1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements provided to the metal body of a gas burner as used in an infrared radiant heater appliance, and in particular an appliance for home use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, such burners include a sheet metal burner body that is generally elongate in shape having one large face that is open and covered by a perforated plate of refractory material, e.g. a ceramic which generates infrared radiation, when heated. The burner body is associated with conventional members such as a gas injector fixed at the inlet of a tubular Venturi which opens out into the body of the burner, an electrical igniter, a thermostat sensor, etc., which are fixed to the burner body via support tabs, themselves added to said body. In addition, members may optionally be provided inside the body of the burner to facilitate proper distribution of the gas mixture, e.g. members in the form of one or more deflector plates.
That kind of burner is obtained by assembling together numerous component parts, in particular by means of welds, bolts, or screws, thus requiring the parts to be manufactured individually, thereby lengthening manufacturing time, and leading to high unit manufacturing costs.
In addition, heater appliances are generally provided with a plurality of juxtaposed burners, with the number of burners being a function of the power of the appliance. The burners are then united on a common support plate which is subsequently mounted inside the heater appliance. It is therefore necessary to provide plates of various sizes corresponding to different numbers of burners that are to be united.
Since the manufacturers of heater appliances are not generally equipped to produce such plates and to mount burners on them, that work is done by the manufacturer of the burners who therefore delivers heating assemblies ready for installation in heater appliances by the appliance manufacturer.
In any event, regardless of the location where the heating assemblies are made up, it is necessary to manufacture and stock plates of various dimensions, thereby increasing production costs. Furthermore, the presence of the plate increases the weight of the heater appliance.
In general, it would appear highly desirable to simplify the manufacture of individual gas burners and of heating assemblies comprising a plurality of burners, so as significantly to reduce the unit manufacturing costs of a burner and also the manufacturing cost of a heating assembly comprising a plurality of burners, in particular by considerably reducing the number of component parts and by making unit burners that are modular and suitable for enabling any number of them to be assembled together simply, and by heater appliance manufacturers themselves, such that the cost price of heater appliances is, in the end, reduced.